FSU Softball: Two coaches vote against Noles in final 2018 poll
By Jason Parker
FSU softball brought home the first national title in program history last week – but that wasn’t good enough to get every first place vote in the end.
It was a moment to remember for the FSU softball team – after years and years of making it to Oklahoma City for the Women’s College World Series only to head back to Tallahassee with nothing but tears, the Seminoles came back to the state capital this time as the national champions following a series sweep of Washington.
It was a moment where players like Jessie Warren, Meghan King and the rest of the ladies rocking the garnet and gold did all they had to – coming back from a opening game loss to UCLA before defeating Georgia, Oregon, the Bruins twice and the Huskies twice to bring home the crown.
By winning the title, FSU softball is the top team in the land – well, according to all but two people it seems.
In the final USA Today / NFCA Coaches Poll of the 2018 season, the Seminoles got 30 of the 32 first place votes – despite winning the Women’s College World Series and proving that they are the best team in the land.
"No. 1 FLORIDA STATE (30 first place votes)No. 2 Washington (1)No. 3 UCLANo. 4 OklahomaNo. 5 FloridaNo. 6 Oregon (1)No. 7 Arizona StateNo. 8 GeorgiaNo. 9 LSUNo. 10 Tennessee"
Okay…where do we begin? We don’t know who the voters were that casted one first place vote each for the Huskies and Ducks, but you can be more than willing to bet they are from the Pac-12 and have way too much salt in their diets after what took place in Oklahoma City.
I’m not as mad about the voter who decided that the Huskies were the top team because they may have thought FSU softball got hot at the right time – but whoever voted for the Ducks just had a case of the “You mads” about the top seeded team entering the tournament getting sent home before the title series.
In a lot of ways, this is similar to UCF claiming a national title in football – except the Knights, though I’ve crown tired of it, have a logical beef considering there is no all inclusive series to decide the champion aside from a four team playoff.
Next: Noles assaulted the WCWS record books
FSU softball won the decisive tournament to be crowned the national champs – and no poll at the end of the season can take away from the fact that winning on the field was unanimous.